New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson Named 'Winner' in March Play
Despite losing three major starters to injuries, the New York Knicks are still currently holding on to one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. It doesn' take much to realize that first-time All -Star Jalen Brunson has kept the team afloat, placing them in fourth place with eight games left on the regular season docket.
Brunson came up big in March, well enough to be named one of the month's biggest winners on the NBA circuit by Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report.
"If any team could've used injuries as an excuse to fold, it was the New York Knicks. They didn't, almost entirely because of Jalen Brunson," Bailey writes. "Friday, he went for 61 points and if we drop his first game in March (when he only played 47 seconds), he's averaged 31.3 points, 6.2 assists and 3.1 threes this month."
"For the entire season, Brunson has now had to play over 800 minutes without any of OG Anunoby, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson on the floor. The Knicks are plus-6.1 points per 100 possessions in those situations. This surge is going to make it very difficult to keep Brunson off an All-NBA squad.'
Though the Knicks (44-30) dropped each of their last two games but that was no fault of Brunson's: the 61 points he scored on Friday in San Antonio were two shy of breaking a team record set by Carmelo Anthony in 2014 and he would've had the game-winner against Oklahoma City was Sunday if not for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's response shortly after. Brunson will no doubt continue to be relied as te Knicks keep navigating the final stretch of the season without OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson.
Brunson and the rest of the Knicks will be looking to avoid losing their third straight game on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
JONAH MORGAN